Club News

The Ryan Game

RYAN Brunt once again made the difference for Argyle in their 1-0 victory over Yeovil Town, continuing to do much more than provide temporary cover for injured teammates.

Brunt scored the only goal of the game at Home Park, showing his predatory instincts in front of goal by following in a long range strike from Craig Tanner. Chris Weale in the Yeovil goal could only parry the effort, and Brunt was on hand to calmly tap in rebound from close range – his fourth goal of the season in arguably his best game for the club to date.
 
“Ryan worked really hard today,” said Derek, “and got his just rewards with the goal in the second half. 
 
“It was a good strike from Craig Tanner, and any good striker will follow it up. Ryan did that. He was unfortunate not to have scored a couple more today.
 
“Ryan has played really well in the games he’s played for us. He’s worked tirelessly up front, and that’s something you need in this game. You need players that work hard, fight your corner, and Ryan Brunt certainly has that.”
 
The striker is staking his claim to remain in the team as injuries to fellow Pilgrims start to clear up. Both Reuben Reid and Josh Simpson continued their recoveries by making substitute appearances against the Glovers, to the delight of the boss.
 
“It’s nice to see Josh Simpson and Reuben coming off the bench,” said Adams. "They haven’t trained a lot but it’s nice to have them all back in the squad. We’ve got Hiram Boateng and Graham Carey still to go. 
 
“When we have that, we’ll have a very competitive squad, but what I will say is we’ve done well to gather the points we have.”
 
Even before the introduction of Simpson, Argyle’s midfield shone in front of nearly 13,000 fans on Boxing Day, with Carl McHugh picking up the man of the match award alongside the similarly sublime Oscar Threlkeld.
 
“I thought himself [McHugh] and Oscar Threlkeld did really well today,” said Derek. “I thought Oscar probably nicked it from Carl for man of the match. I thought he was outstanding, with the way he ran the ball down. 
 
“But the two of them combined well, passed it well, created openings and really destructed the possibility of anybody doing anything for Yeovil.”